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Old 02-15-2020, 01:16 PM   #1
400 dollar yaris
 
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battery light on cold start up

Hello all,

Yesterday I noticed my battery light on. I pulled over and got my scan tool out and plugged into my car to see if I could figure out what was going on. The battery was running around 11V. So this morning I cleaned the corrosion off of the terminals and went for a drive. At first no light, but then as I started down the road the light came on again. I tried to do a battery test with my scan tool, but it said the battery needed to be fully charged first. So, I went up to autozone and had them test it. They said the battery health was fine, but it needed charged. Their tool said it was around 12v. So I said ok and decided to head home. Turing my car back on after they tested it, no light. Checked again with my tool when I got home and the battery was reading 14V again. I did a battery test on it since my tool said it was fully charged and the battery health came back normal. The serpentine belt on the car does slip sometimes and squeals but ive never had this issue before. I was thinking that this could be due to the belt getting old and wearing out since it has been squealing for a while. I was waiting until it was nice outside to change it, but I may need to tough it out. It has been about 20 degrees here lately and the last time I replaced the battery was december of 2013. I dont believe it is the battery since both my tester and the autozone tester said the battery was holding a charge. My fear is the alternator, but im hoping that i just need to replace the belt and all will be good. Has anyone else experienced this?

Thank you,
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Old 02-15-2020, 02:33 PM   #2
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Sounds like the voltage regulator in the alternator is starting to go. Its first symptom of failing is an intermittent battery light. Can behave like that for years before light stays on constantly.
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Old 02-15-2020, 03:32 PM   #3
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Agreed. Upon further testing with the multimeter, I get a read of 12v when the car is off, upon turing the car on the battery drops to 11.67 volts. Applying a load with the radio, headlights, and fan drops voltage down to 11.2 volts. Now the question is how long can I drive the car like this before the alternator goes completely? Can I drive to work for the next week while waiting for a new alternator to come? Is this easily replaced? I know the dealership will probably charge out the butt to do it. Any opinions on new alternators? Rockauto?

Thank you,
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Old 02-15-2020, 03:41 PM   #4
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is it worth trying to replace the belt before buying a new alternator and swaping them out?
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Old 02-15-2020, 04:16 PM   #5
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Found a junk yard with an 07 and 08 yaris. going tomorrow. planning on pulling both alternators if they have them in case one is bad. any other suggestions? I have never been to a place like this.
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Old 02-16-2020, 02:59 AM   #6
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Be careful when refitting the drive belt. The control valve for the variable valve timing is right where it seems a reaonable place to fit someting to lever the alternator when adjusting the belt tension.
A number of people have found this out the hard way.
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Old 02-16-2020, 10:02 AM   #7
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Thanks for the advice kevin. I was sure to be careful of this.

UPDATE: so, trying to remove the alternator seemed like a pretty simple task, 1 12mm bolt on top, 1 14mm bolt on bottom, 1 10mm bolt connecting to the front of the alternator, 1 10mm bolt holding a bracket for the AC lines to get the 14mm bottom bolt out, and one electrical connector. no problems with anything except the 14mm on the bottom was so tight that I couldnt get it off even with attaching a pipe to the end of my ratchet for more leverage only to strip the crap out of the bolt. (Car was wrecked when i bought it and never replaced the plastic protection underneath so there is quite a bit of corrosion and stuck bolts / nuts on this thing. Coming back to bite me it seems.) Not enough room to get a set of vice grips on due to the water pulley being so close and very little room. SMH. Defeated and down, I replaced the electrical connectors and bolts, tightend the belt and prepared to take it to the stealership. Upon replacing everything the battery light is off for the moment, drove around a bit and tested the battery with my ohm meter. 12-12.5 v when the car is off, 14v when car is idle with nothing on. 13.8V with radio, headlights, rear window defroster, and fan on full blast. I'm thinking possible loose connection, but more likely alternator is on its way out eventually. Im planning on making an appointment at the dealership for them to just do an inspection and see what they say about it, since if it is going bad I cant get that bolt off anyway. not to mention it is below freezing and I just froze my butt off to basically accomplish nothing. Ill keep you updated on my adventure. Ive owned this car for 9 years. Paid 400 dollars back in 2011 for her wrecked and i've had great memories in this thing back in High School. Everyone is telling me that I should start looking for something else, but I love this little car. Just not sure if the dealer tells me its gonna be really expensive if its worth it just becasue the car has sentimental value. I would like to keep this car, but without a garage to work on it in, it is just getting more diffucult for me to do tougher repairs than basic maintenance in the parking lot of the apartment complex due to issues like this where maybe on a car that wasnt wrecked in the front this bolt may not be stuck as badly. Thank you all.

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Old 02-16-2020, 10:44 AM   #8
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I drove mine for over 2 years with the intermittent battery light syndrome.
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Old 02-16-2020, 12:27 PM   #9
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7 years old battery? I would start by changing it first. There are several parameters that are not easy to measure using standard multimeter.
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Old 02-16-2020, 02:19 PM   #10
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going to get a new battery today to see if it helps. ill keep you updated. Thanks for the help.
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Old 02-16-2020, 03:16 PM   #11
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Just changed the battery, light still on, must be something else. Probably gonna have to go to the dealer. Ill keep this thread updated.
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Old 02-16-2020, 06:39 PM   #12
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Your stripped out bolt - is there enough room to hammer a socket on it?

If you look up Irwin bolt extractor on Google or amazon they are these sockets with hardened "teeth" inside. You bash it onto what has rounded off and generally it will grip onto whats left and take it off. I'd soak it generously in WD40 first as well. I don't envy you, the 1.3 and 1.5 engine bays are tighter than a banshee. My 3 cylinder engine leaves a bit of room and the alternator is at the front.

I actually had this exact same problem on my Yaris back in 2015 at around 90,000 miles. Battery light on, i never caught it "in the act" noticeably with my multimeter but you could tell the system voltage was dropping while driving. My mechanic replaced the alternator and it's been fine since. I think i might have contributed to it by driving around with a near dead battery for a year.
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Old 02-17-2020, 06:36 AM   #13
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There was a Toyota TSB for the 2007 Charging System warning light.
Corrosion was found on the voltage regulator.
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Old 02-17-2020, 07:40 PM   #14
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Dealer is going to charge me 550 for a brand new alternator installed. (I was expecting worse). Less of a headache for me. Just going to do it. I'm driving it to work this week so hopefully it lasts until they can get it in on saturday. Thank you all for the help.

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Old 02-17-2020, 10:35 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 400 dollar yaris View Post
Dealer is going to charge me 550 for a brand new alternator installed. (I was expecting worse). Less of a headache for me. Just going to do it. I'm driving it to work this week so hopefully it lasts until they can get it in on saturday. Thank you all for the help.

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I guess it's 950 dollar Yaris from now on.
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Old 02-18-2020, 09:30 AM   #16
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It will not die before the weekend.
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Old 02-18-2020, 08:56 PM   #17
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WeeYari, yes, I am feeling confident after two days of the light flickering on and off I wont be stranded before saturday.

Still, not too bad of an investment considering I've gotten 92,000 miles out of it so far. Now with a new battery and alternator from this experience who knows how long it will go.

Thanks again everyone.
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Old 02-22-2020, 04:21 PM   #18
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So alternator is done, alternator was going bad. According to the dealer, one of the bearings on the inside was seized. Replaced with a brand new one. Battery light is gone! I don't feel so bad about not being able to get the 14mm bolt on the bottom out because even the dealer had to take a torch to it to get it out. Also left with a 2017 camry se. :) excited to add to my fleet and keep my yaris going!

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